Middletown police arrested a man accused of exposing himself and masturbating on a public bus while sitting across from a teenage girl.
The man was identified as Joseph Mabery, a 49-year-old Middletown man with a criminal record that includes 28 convictions on charges ranging from breach of peace and burglary to sexual assault, according to police.
According to the sex offender registry, Mabery was convicted of first-degree sexual assault on Feb. 7, 1990.
The Hartford Courant reports that he was convicted for raping a Wesleyan student at knife-point and was arrested again eight years later, accused of breaking into a Wesleyan dorm.
The recent incident happened on the Middletown Area Transit “I” bus just after 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and was recorded on the bus surveillance system, according to police.
The 14-year-old girl who reported the incident told police that Mabery was massaging his genitals through his pants, then exposed himself and masturbated twice while he was sitting across from her, police said.
The teen said she was uncomfortable, terrified and feared that Mabery would get off the bus at her stop.
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The girl identified Mabery from a photo lineup and police went to 30 Erin St., the address Mabery had listed for the sex offender registry.
At the house, one of Mabery’s family members said Mabery was staying with a cousin on Washington Street, according to police. He had moved out three weeks earlier because he was “not acting right” and “embarrassing the family,” the relative told police.
Police took Mabery into custody at 400 Washington Street after he resisted arrest, according to police.
He was charged with risk of injury, public indecency, breach of peace in the second degree and failure to register as a sex offender.
He was held on $250,000 bond and is due in court on Oct, 2.
